May It Be
by Elefria
Summary: What is the true definition of Love? Most would say lust and folly. Some would say that love is the capability to have strong feelings. Few would say that love, true love is a burning desire to protect that special person from the most hopeless and inexplicable circumstances. To reach into another's soul and cradle their delicate heart with compassion. Ino, Neji, Hinata, Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey it's Elefria here! (:**

**This will be a long journey so please stay with me. **

**Sorry the first chapter might be a little choppy but it has a few time skips and a view change. Later chapters will be much better and when I complete the Fan Fic I will go through and re-write all the chapters to improve the story overall. This is my first Naruto fic ever so forgive me for any blatant mistakes. Comments are encouraged 100%. So please enjoy and leave your thoughts to me so that I might be able to improve your overall reading experience. **

**Oh and this is a NejiIno fic.**

**I do not own Naruto, however the plot line is mine.**

Three shinobi raced through the glistening morning dew and pressed on past the leafy boughs surrounding them. One wrong step and the unlucky ninja would be found swinging from the un-clench-able jaws of steel traps. However their deft eyes were alert and kept them aloft and away from the dangerous cages.

"Wait!" The gruff voice called too late. The ninja in point position was impaled by several senbon coated in poison. Down he fell: straight to the grassy dirt packed earth where death licked his lips.

The two remaining shinobi crashed to a halt as the forest trembled about them. A crisp howl danced through the ninja's eardrums and the armed men looked about themselves in bewilderment. Suddenly the trees burst ahead splintering off in every direction to make way for the horizontal tornado headed directly towards the duo.

One man shoved his friend whom had called out earlier roughly from the path of destruction and took the full force of the hit. It was not really a tornado. In fact on closer inspection it appeared to be an enormous spinning drill. The man was torn completely in half and his blood rained down, sinking into the soil below.

The last man standing stood a midst the obliterated forest scenery and laid eyes on the demon itself. There it stood on massive white legs with two rearing heads filled with fangs, dribbling drool to the ground as it stared with hungering eyes: crimson as the blood of his fallen brothers. The beast was at such a height that the trees longed for it's majesty of the skies. The earth trembled beneath the monsters paws as it paced menacingly towards the man.

Birds scattered throughout the forest as agonizing death screams and growls shook the woods.

XxXxXx

I saw Kiba stare at the dead man ridden with bloody puncture wounds from close by. "That's what ya get fer rapin and killin that little girl." He growled as he spat on the man's corpse.

"Good job Dog Boy!" I said with a smirk as I sailed over a fallen tree into the newly formed clearing. "Oh and you too Akamaru" I cheered as I patted the large white dog. I always found it amusing to rile the dog-nin up because he never said the same thing twice: unlike a certain pinkett I knew.

"Hey! Quit callin me that already!" Kiba retorted at the blonde kunoichi.

"I-ino. Kib-ba. P-please stop fighting." Hinata begged softly as she edged around the dead man. She gave the corpse an unsure glance almost as if she expected it to jump back to life and attack her.

I laughed openly. "Alright sorry Hinata."

"B-but she started it!" He sputtered.

I leaned towards Kiba flicked his nose as if he were a dog. "Hinata said to stop."

Hinata and I watched Kiba's face turn a shade of anger dark enough to blend in with his clan markings. I could almost imagine smoke pouring from his ears and Hinata covered her ears looking timid.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" The Dog-nin roared.

I crossed her arms. "Your own good."

Before Kiba could retort Hinata cut in. "W-we should r-really g-get back. Tsunade n-needs us to report."

Sighing I fell into position behind Kiba all the while smiling in a silent victory for getting the last word. It was childish, but at the moment I could care less. The mission was a success which meant that the sooner they returned home: the sooner I could take a long hot bath.

XxXxXx

Several hours later the leaf ninjas found themselves back in Konoha. "Home. Finally home." I grumbled wearily. We had pulled a 34 hour shift without sleeping in order to catch their target and we felt like the walking dead.

After reporting to Tsunade and getting a verbal pat on the back, I made my way home. Upon arriving at the Yamanaka flower shop my eyes were greeted with the site of paint scrawled over the shop in offensive words and pictures. "Not again." I groaned and hatefully stared at the stupid pranks on the shop which would undoubtedly drive way business.

I had just repainted the shop last week after someone had painted the word slut in thick black paint on every single open space along the walls. I was seriously getting real sick and tired of whoever decided vandalizing Yamanaka Flowers was the next big thing. I cracked her knuckles. "Just wait until I figure out who you are. Ill teach you a real good lesson." No one messes with Yamanka Ino... unless they have a death wish.

Rather than scrubbing myself clean of blood and grime I found myself repainting the flower shop walls for the second time that month. As I rolled the fresh paint over a very graphic panting of a severed head my mind wandered to the possible help I might be able to enlist. Someone had to keep an eye on the shop and catch the little shit responsible for this distasteful mess. Who did I piss of this badly anyways? So I made a mental list of everyone I remembered talking to in the past month.

**Tsunade- **I can't even think of a reason why she would vandalize the shop.

**Kiba-** He was with me just now on a mission so no. He would be a great suspect though. He's lucky that he's safe.

**Hinata-** She would faint if she saw the wall and she was also with me when it happened.

**Shino-** He might look sort of like a terrorist but I highly doubt it was him. Besides I think he's on a mission in the Land of Tea with Choji right now. (What is he even hiding behind that jacket and those glasses of his? What if he's handsome? Maybe he's hiding from fangirls and keeping them away with his covered up appearance).

**Lee- **This type of thing is too "un-youthful" for him and he trains like every minute of the day.

**Tenten-** She's too mature to paint penis's and decapitated heads on a wall so Tenten is definately out of the question. Besides I think she has a think for Kankuro. (He's actually kind of attractive when he takes off all of his makeup and pulls of that hood of his.)

**Neji-** I only saw him once this month and that was also the time I found out that he and Shikamaru play shogi together. I can't believe that arrogant jerk takes time to play board games with _my_ best friend. I mean how could he have resisted my charms in the Forest of Death? I'm irresistable right? Right?

**Choji-** No, he was too nice and one of my closest friends.

**Shikamaru-** No way. He is to lazy and his girlfriend Temari is visiting Konoha with her brothers. Besides Shika is my best friend and on top that his mother would probably beat him for something this offensive.

**Temari-** Nah, she's to concerned about spending every minute with the lazy bum.

**Kankuro-** We don't hate each other. Sure we sling insults back and forth, but he's to much of a flirt and thinks hes too cool to do something like this. The jerk would find it funny though and probably give the bastard a high five if he figured out who did it.

**Gaara-** I wasn't even sure he knew what half of the messages on the wall meant and on top of that vandalizing a flower shop seemed beneath him.

**Naruto-** He has vandalized the hokage statues before, but I've never personally done anything mean to Naruto so doubt that it was him. Besides he's sort of grown out of those kinds of pranks. Unless... Sakura put him up to it.

**Sakura-** As much as I want her to be the culprit our old friendship would probably prevent her from doing this...unless Sasuke thought it was a good idea.

**Sasuke-** First of all that seems like it would be a stupid idea to him and secondly he doesn't even live here. He's still with Orochimaru I think.

Thinking of Sasuke was depressing. I mean I wasn't as bad off as Sakura: she still cries herself to sleep. I on the other hand have moved on. I'm not sure I even ever liked Sasuke beyond a crush. Part of me believes that I did in fact love him and would glomp him- not just to rile Sakura up, but to sooth him. He always looked so lonely and some sort silent pain. Not to mention how attractive he is. A girl would have to be blind to not fall for his killer looks. However the other part of me knows that I used Sasuke to get back at Sakura for throwing our friendship away over a boy who didn't like her...or me. Starting fights with Sakura over him was a way to get her to acknowledge my existence, to remind her that I was still here and to put on a bluff that I didn't need her as my best friend: that I could do better.

I wasn't jealous that Sakura tried to keep Sasuke from me.

I was jealous that Sakura tried to replace me with Sasuke.

To get back on topic I'm clueless on who could have tagged the shop. Everyone else I've come cross was either customers or vendors and I go out of my way to respect both.

So who could it be?

I finally finished covering up the word hoebag and sighed in relief. I was done and it only took about 2 and a half hours to make the shop walls presentable to public.

I grabbed the lid and sealed the paint bucket before rinsing off the paintbrush and paint roller with the outside water hose. I grimaced at the feeling of icy water splashing over my hands and legs as I shook the paint brush dry. Slowly I made my way back to the paint can and lifted it up and made my way to the front door of the shop.

My keys jingled as I unlocked the door and stepped inside. At least after this I could sleep and relax in a nice hot bath. I prayed that we still had some bubble bath. Pushing my thoughts aside I shut the shop door and re-locked it. I maneuvered the dim shop to the storage room where I left the paint supplies. Finally I walked upstairs to me and my Fathers home.

My father greeted me with a huge smile as I stumbled into the living room. "Welcome back Princess."

"Hey Daddy." I smiled back softly at his nickname for me. Most girls would fuss over their Dad calling them something so cutsie as Princess at my age. But not me. No to me it is a sign of close affection and his thoughts of high value towards me.

"How did your mission go?" He questioned me.

"It went fine. Perfect actually. The only problem is that Kiba hogged all the glory, but I gotta hand it to him. The Inuzuka clan is quite impressive." I paused for a moment and pondered whether or not to tell him about the vandalism. I decided against it. My father has enough problems to stress over. Ill find the culprit for him.

"That they are my dear. So is the Inuzuka boy the new Sasuke?" Inoichi asked with a sly grin.

"DAD!" I couldn't believe he just asked that. "No way. Kiba is nothing like Sasuke." I'm never complimenting a boy in his presence ever again.

He chuckled at my flustered appearance. "We're having dinner at the Nara's tonight so I suggest you clean up and get some rest."

So much for a long relaxing bubble bath to wash away my stress.

I just nodded grudgingly and looked at the clock as I walked to my room. It was almost 3 in the afternoon which meant that I had at least a few hours to sleep after a quick shower.

As I scrubbed myself clean and washed my hair my thoughts were drawn back to the shop vandalism. Thank kami it's only paint. It could be way worse for example the jerk could have burned the shop to the ground. I smirked to myself. I doubt someone as pathetic as the person who painted a penis on the shop was smart or dangerous enough to do something so extreme.

There was a knot of worry tangled in my stomach. Somehow I felt that it was only going to get worse.

I grabbed a towel and stepped out of the shower convincing myself that it was just a academy student playing a dumb prank. The only flaw in that logic was the stunning amount of detail and accuracy the painter had was beyond someone so young.

Shaking my head to clear the bothersome thoughts I grabbed my brush and my hair dryer. As soon as my hair was dry enough I turned of my hair dryer and crawled into bed exhausted.

XxXxXx

The screeching of my alarm had me shooting out of bed ready to kill anything in sight. I angrily shut off my alarm deciding that it wasn't worth throwing out the window.

I yawned and rubbed my eyes before getting out of bed and stumbling to my dresser. It was just dinner at Shikamaru's so I didn't have to be to fancy. So I went with simple. A black mid-thigh length skirt, a white blouse and black sandals.

"Hurry up sweetie!" Inoichi called.

"Alright." I responded while applying a coat of mascara to my eyelashes and a shine of lip gloss. I quickly pulled my brush through my hair to get rid of any tangles.

My father opened my door just as I left my bathroom holding a swan shaped glass vase filled with dark pink roses. The symbolic meaning of these flowers is thankfulness. They must be for Yoshino and her family.

I smiled and took the vase from my father. "I'm ready."

He nodded in a appreciation and we walked side-by-side to the Nara's talking about anything that came to mind. Before my foot even touched the second step on the porch Shikaku threw the front door open with a wide slanted smile and greeted us with a loud voice. Yoshino appeared behind his shoulder and warned him to lower his voice because it was "uncivilized to shout at our dinner guests".

I presented the vase to Shika's mom and she smiled brightly as she took the vase with her into the house after expressing her thanks and welcoming us in.

"Nag nag nag. That's all the woman does these days." It would have sounded rude if Shikaku hadn't been smiling fondly the entire time he said it.

A sharp "I heard that!" had all three of us dissolved into laughter.

Shikaku invited us inside and led my father into the living room undoubtedly for a drink leaving me with Yoshino. She fussed over me for several minutes. "You've grown into such a beautiful young woman Ino. Your Father must be chasing boys away left and right."

We shared a laugh. "Thank you, but no he doesn't really have to worry about guys chasing me. Between you and me, I think I scare them off myself" I meant it mostly as a joke, but now that I thought about it; maybe I did chase them off with my loud voice and brash personality. Deep down I really was a nice person, but a lot of people rubbed me the wrong way.

"Oh nonsense. You're beautiful and talented. Those boys would have to be blind to not see that." Yoshino said with huge smile as she stirred the rice.

"Thanks again Yoshino." This woman was great for my moral. I looked up to her like a mother even.

She nodded. "Shikamaru's out on the back deck playing shogi." That was her subtle way off saying "get out of my hair so I can finish making dinner."

I smiled and walked past the living room filled with booming laughter.

Out on the deck I saw _him_ playing shogi with Shikamaru. He was one of the last people I wanted to come into contact with. I loved his cousin. But him not so much.

Neji.

"Hey Ino." Shika said as he moved one of the game pieces.

Neji looked over his shoulder at me making brief eye contact with me before turning back to the game board.

What the hell was that? Am I not good enough for you to acknowledge my existence? Jerk. Two can play that game.

"Hey Shika. How are you today?" I asked with a smile as I walked over to the duo.

"Ehh. Nothing much. Just playing shogi with Neji." He said it as if it were an everyday occurrence.

"Oh. Let me guess your winning." I said as I sat down between the two boys. I felt Neji's gaze on the side of my face.

"It is at a tie Yamanaka-san." Hyuga's cold voice corrected me.

I looked at Neji in shock. For starters no one ever beats Shikamaru at strategy games or even comes close. Secondly he spoke to me. I wasn't quite sure how to respond. "Ino."

"Pardon?" He looked at me quizzically.

"Call me by my first name not my last." The more I looked at him the more I noticed how much he had changed since the Forest of Death. In fact he was quite handsome.

My mind reeled how could I think that about my enemy? I'm losing my touch.

"My apologies Ino-san." Neji's focus drifted from me back to the game board as he made his next move.

"So how long are you staying Neji-san?" I asked as Shika removed one of Neji's game pieces.

Neji returned the favor by taking one of Shikamaru's pieces. "Until after dinner."

He was staying for dinner. Great the gods must hate me. "Oh." I paused not sure how to respond because I was not thrilled. "When is Choji going to get here?"

Shikamaru sighed quietly. "When he gets her I suppose."

I gave him a dirty look. "Fine."

I watched the game in silence mentally cheering Shika on. Normally I would spill every minute of my day to my best friend, but I was reluctant to do so in Neji's presence. No need to give him another reason to judge me aside from my failed seduction attempt.

"So how did your mission go?" Shikamaru asked after noting the suspicious length of time I had been quiet.

"It was a partial success." I sighed. "We caught the three bastards that molested and killed that little girl. She was so young and defenseless." I paused to collect my thoughts and keep my emotions in check. For gods sake the girl was barley 6 years old. "Our mission was to rescue her and bring her back alive, but it was failure. We found her torn and bleeding from places children should never have to experience. I tried to save her. I tried, but it was like with Asuma. Even though I did everything right there was nothing that could have saved her." Those shinobi had no honor or respect so we showed none in return when taking their lives.

Shikamaru sighed heavily. "That's a damn shame."

I'm not sure how long we sat enveloped in silence before a welcome distraction appeared.

"Hey guys." Choji greeted us with a smile and lifted me up into a bear hug. I laughed and sweetly threatened him to put me down. Hopefully Neji couldn't see up my skirt. Tch it either wouldn't phase him or he would turn darker than Gaara's hair since he's from such a refined clan.

"What'cha been up too?" Choji asked as he set me back down on my own feet.

"Oh nothing really. I've just been watching these guys play their stupid board game." I herd Shikamaru grunt in disapproval at my words.

Choji gasped. "It's not stupid Ino. It's really useful. How do you think Shikamaru get's us out of all of our sticky situations?" Leave it to Choji to defend his best friend and make me sound bad. I wasn't mad though. He wasn't intentionally trying to make me sound like a bitch in front of the Ice Block. Plus he had a point. Shikamaru is the one that gets us out of tough situations.

"I guess."

Choji smiled at me. "Oh I almost forgot. Dinners ready!"

We followed Choji into the dinning room and I noticed that each seating place was labeled with a name on a small white card in fancy black lettering.

I found my seat and looked to the card on my left.

_Hyuga Neji _

**Thank you for reading. (:**

**Comments are encouraged and are inspirational.**

**Let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back! (:**

**First of all kudos to my amazing reviewers for their amazing comments! **

**Rockerchick098- **Hinata did it! *Insert evil laugh* Just kidding. You will find out eventually.

**Emoprincess21- **I'm glad to hear that I made your day and I was surprised to hear that you already think May It Be is " based on the first chapter. I will try to update as much as possible.

**Wilhelm Wigworthy- **Your comment was inspirational and quick. I never expected such a fast review! Oh and I love your pen name.

**Thank you to all my readers as well!**

**You're propbably skipping this entire part just to get to reading, but if you didn't then I suggest you look up the song **Maid of Culmore **by **Cara Dillon**. It is just soooo beautiful!**

**Oh and PS later on there will be NaruHina woven into the story and possibly a NaruHinaShino triangle. Let me know what you think if your interested.**

**I do not own Naruto and the plot line is still mine.**

**Now read my beauties! **

Sitting next to Neji at the dinner table was like sitting next to a wall. He was unresponsive towards almost any of my attempts at conversation and practically gave of an aura of "Don't look at me. Don't touch me." I mean it wasn't like I was going to lean over and stab him with my chopsticks. I'm not that mean. Towards him at least. He might retaliate and take out a few of my chakra points and I would beat the crap out of him for it. Or try. I never forgot what the damage looked like when Hinata took a brutal attack from Neji's gentle fist.

I smirked to myself at the thought of punching Neji's face in. Me winning against the Hyuga protege: He would never hear the end of it. From me at least. Teach him to ignore my stunning good looks. No one ignores Yamanaka Ino and gets away with it.

I looked over at the Ice Block and watched him for a few seconds. He really had grown into his looks since the Chunin exams. His features were smooth and angular, almost elvish in a way. He had a refined and sophisticated look about him now that he wore more traditional Hyuga clothing. (Perhaps he was more accepting of his family status since the Chunin exams. After all he was a little over protective of Hinata.) His hair had grown longer and he had bangs to frame his face. To top it off his hair was always perfect and as far as I knew he did nothing to it. Nothing. I narrowed my eyes at his visage. How could that jerk have perfect hair without effort while I spent time and products to make my hair look gorgeous? It just wasn't fair!

"Can I help you?" Cold lavender eyes clashed with cool crystal demanding a reason for my glaring.

"No." I said turning my head away quickly as my face started to heat up. I couldn't believe that he just caught me staring at him. No I was glaring! I do not stare at Hyuga Neji.

I felt Neji's eyes on me as I self consciously picked up my chopsticks to take my mind off of my newest recent embarrassment. I pushed my food around my plate for the most part and ate small bites occasionally. A girl has to maintain her figure.

Laughter erupted from the three men sitting around the table. They were probably sharing a private joke or just told a dirty one considering my teammates mother's looked peeved. I glanced at Shikamaru and he just shrugged as if to say "Who cares." then I looked to Choji who offered me a sweet and simple smile.I returned his smile and chose to not look at Neji considering the awkward situation it landed me in last time.

Choji leaned forward with a gleam in his eye. His eyes only gleamed when food was involved."Hey Ino, I heard Naruto saying something about Tsunade letting the Konoha 11...err 10, go on a vacation to a hot springs resort for a day as a treat for all of our hard work and success. He said there was going to be a buffet!"

I laughed. Leave it to Choji to get worked up over a buffet when there was one practically sitting in front of him. "I wouldn't believe everything Naruto says."

He looked surprised. "You mean there won't be buffet?"

"I don't know Choji, but this just doesn't sound like something Tsunade-sensei would do for us. After all who will be left over to take missions and watch over Konoha?" Although personally I would love to go to that resort and relax. Plus we deserve it.

"Yeah I guess you're right Ino." Choji looked defeated. "I really would have enjoyed that 24 hour buffet."

Now I felt bad. Asuma told me to look after Choji and Shikamaru and all I do is turn down anything they say. If Konoha's forces weren't so stretched I'd ask for a vacation and take my team to that resort. We haven't had a break since Asuma died. I reminisced for a moment before coming to a conclusion. I offered my biggest smile and leaned forward to share my idea. Faintly I heard Shikamru mutter "She has that look again."

I ignored him. For once I wasn't proposing that we go shopping or that I was spilling some intense gossip or crazy secret. No this time I actually had something valuable to say.

"How about I take you guys out for all-you-can-eat BBQ? I'll pay." I leaned back and grinned in satisfaction.

Choji gushed happily with a look of fire and determination in his eyes and Shika gave a soft chuckle that sounded almost like relief.

A cold voice drifted into my ears. "What's the point in getting that much food if you're not going to eat it?"

I snapped my gaze sharply to my left. "Excuse me?"

"It should be quite obvious. You have hardly touched your food all night which indicates that you are either not feeling well or are on a diet. However the first is not true because you have not broken a sweat or left the table, leaving my second guess as the only viable answer. So why would you go through the trouble of paying for food that you are most certainly not going to eat?"

During his little speech I my mouth had fallen open in disbelief. That arrogant asshole! I snapped my jaw shut in rage. "What I do is none of your business Hyuga." I flipped my hair angrily. "I can do whatever I want with my money."

"Back on a last name basis are we, Yamanka-san?" How could he stay so calm and collected while I could hardly compose my rage? That was one of my only "weak" points. I showed my emotions most of the time, but to me that made me stronger because I cared and wasn't just a sharp cold tool to be used at anytime. Life would be stupid without emotion and meaningless.

I fumed in silent rage for the rest of dinner not wanting to ruin Yoshino's happy gathering. Throughout the rest of the evening Choji and Shikamaru shot me cautious glances which I promptly ignored, and just to spite Neji: I finished my meal for once.

XxXxXx

"You can't be serious!" I let out a girlish scream much to my companions disapproval. Naruto hadn't lied. We were going to the resort! Relaxation and peace for a whole day. Well maybe not all day with Naruto and Kiba around. "Wait who is going to take care of our responsibilities? We can't just leave the village weak."

The other nine ninja slumped slightly at my words. Tsunade however beamed. "Sand nin."

"Uhh what?" Was she serious? Sand ninja protecting Konoha while we leaf nin were on vacation for a day.

"The Kazekage and his siblings will be attending the resort with you and as a sign of peace and trust, Lord Kazekage is leaving 10 of his trusted shinobi to take over your stations for a day." Tsunade seemed a little to gleeful considering outsiders were going to be in the village.

"This is going to be the best vacation ever!" Naruto yelled. "Believe it!"

I smiled despite my unease. I noticed Hinata gazing at Naruto and jabbing her index fingers together. She never had dropped that habit along with her stutter over the years. Personally I had hoped that over time she would overcome her fears and habits because I loved the idea of Hinata and Naruto being together. "Y-you're right N-Naruto." Hinata whispered.

Naruto smiled obliviously towards Hinata's comment not hearing her as he gushed over the prospect hanging out with Gaara. If he wasn't such a pervert I might have wondered if Naruto was gay.

I gave Hinata an encouraging smile. I thought her crush on Naruto was adorable even though I didn't quite understand it. Sure he was impressive, but...

Neji seemed to look pleased that Naruto had missed Hinata's words. Of course he would because he doesn't harbor romantic feelings.

"Shut it, Naruto!" Sakura snapped after a few minutes of Naruto's never-ending speech about what he was going to do at the resort.

"But Sakura-chan." He whined.

She raised her fist to him and he backed off, holding his hands up in surrender. "Okay, sheesh."

Sakura was always in the way of everything. Let me make you a list.

-Me getting Sasuke to myself.

-our friendship.

-Hinata's feeling for Naruto because for some un-known reason he was obsessed with Sakura.

-me being the top kuniochi.

-Being Tsunades top and only apprentice.

-my fist.

-and a long list of other irrelevant things that would take the rest of my life to mention.

"Alright break it up. Go on, get going you're cluttering up my office." Tsunade scowled ushering us out the door and shutting it on us to return to her sake.

"Let's meet up at the front gate in an hour and if you're late you get left behind." Neji stated as he pulled away from the group with Hinata.

Who put him in charge? Oh right. No one.

I caught up to the pair and threw my arm through Hinata's. "Hey let's share a room together Hinata."

"Umm a-are you s-sure?" She asked timidly.

"Of course we can do each others hair and talk about boys." I winked at Neji, knowing it would infuriate him and walked away towards the Yamanaka flower shop. "See you later."

"B-bye Ino-san."

XxXxXx

An hour later I found myself racing to the front gates. I was so going to be late and left behind. If I hadn't spent so much time packing... well over packing, then I would have been perfectly on schedule. But, my dilemma was that I couldn't decide what clothes to bring so I grabbed a little bit of everything. On top of that I had so much clothes that had to play Tetris just to get everything to fit in my travel bag. Then upon walking out the door I remembered last second that I needed my wallet so I had to run back up to my room to fetch it. That was just my luck. Damn NeJi having to set the departure time an hour away from getting the news. Seriously who can pack in an hour?

I landed on the ground from atop the last roof by the gate and saw Shikamaru leaning against the gate. "Hey you waited for me?" I smiled.

"No, Tamari." He dead panned. My smile snapped into a glare and then a pout. "Awhhh."

"Tch troublesome."

I was about to retort when a feminine voice interrupted.

"Hey thanks for waiting!" I turned to see Temari walking ahead of her brothers with a huge smile on her face. Weird, I never would have pegged her for a girl with a nice smile.

"Hey babe." Kankuro smirked coming up to my side and looking down at me.

I poked his chest. "I'm not your babe." I looked at him with an equally seductive smirk. "Nice make-up."

Kankuro's face flashed indignantly and his chest puffed out "This-" He said while pointing to his face. "is not make-up. It's war paint."

"Whatever it still looks like make-up to me. Are you trying to hide something from us." I asked with a smirk.

From his face I could tell that he got what I was implying. "What! No!" Temari broke out into laughter and Gaara looked expressionless as ever.

"I like women. That's it." Kankuro declared.

"and puppets." I countered.

"Ahh no. That's weird." He glared.

I simply glared back as we started our journey to the hot springs resort. I wasn't really mad and neither was he. We just liked to be dramatic and give each other's bullshit because we knew that we could take it without any real offense. Sometimes I wished that he lived in Konoha just so that I could have someone to talk freely to without getting or giving a death threat. We understood each other's personalities and that's what made it such a great friendship. Although we virtually knew nothing about one another. I was fine with that.

For everyone I had something. Sakura's ribbon that I had given to her as a symbol of our friendship. Naruto's free ramen pass from my last birthday. One of Kiba's sweaters that he lent me one time during a mission in the rain village. Elegantly carved chopsticks from Choji. A kuni knife Sasuke had given me during our academy days. Many of Shikamaru's hair-ties and his soft green shirt. Hinata's kind words. A scroll on the secrets of "youth" from Lee and a beautiful hair-stick from Tenten. Some of Shino's bugs were even at the flower shop nurturing the gardens.

What I had for Neji was a feeling.

That feeling was;

Hate.

**Thank you for reading. (:**

** And again comments are encourged.**

** Let me know what you think.**

** Uhhgg sorry it took so long to update, Fanfiction wouldn't load at all so I had to wait forever to get this posted. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Salutations, **

**I forgot to mention earlier, but obviously I don't own Naruto. However the plot line is mine and Yagumi (He was a test tube character!). **

**So noticed that many of you didn't seem to like the last chapter and I coincide with that. Personally, I think it's awful and needs to be fixed. That will happen later on when I have more time. (Please ignore my blunder and continue reading my FanFic.) So as an apology I wrote this chapter in the most epic manner. **

**There will be a fight scene.**

**Enjoy. **

I walked beside Kankuro deciding that being late to the front gate and missing everyone else wasn't that bad after all. For example there was no Sakura to ruin my morning.

As we made our journey to the hot springs I watched the morning light glint off of Gaara's impossibly red hair. Behind us were Temari and Shikamaru, traveling at such a lax pace that they were almost beginning to lag. I glanced over my shoulder at them to make sure they were still alive and saw them talking in hushed tones to one another. Leaning over to Kankuro I murmured. "I wonder what their talking about?"

Kankuro shrugged. "Probably sex."

"What!" I exclaimed indignantly. Honestly I didn't see that coming, even from him. I refused to believe it. I crossed my arms. "No, he wouldn't do that."

"Come on, don't act so surprised. It's all guys talk about." Kankuro responded casually.

"Not Neji." Where the hell did that come from?

Kankuro gave me a suspicious look. "How would you know?"

I decided to play it cool and brush it off. There was no way in hell I wanted Kankuro-or anyone for that matter- to think that I had a thing for Neji. Because I don't and Kankuro can spread gossip faster than me and Sakura put together, which I might add is an accomplishment. "He's too refined. To him that's like... scratching your balls in public."

Kankuro laughed. "I like you."

I shrugged. "Me too."

"In all serious though Blondie, I'm not kidding. That lazy dirtbag and Temari are probably discussing tonight's heated action." Kankuro emphasized the word action by jerking his arms back in a perverted manner.

I smacked his shoulder. "He is not a dirtbag!" Kami, only I am allowed to make fun of my lazy teammate.

"Yeah he is. At least I didn't say sleezebag." Kankuro responded with nonchalance.

Well he had like two thirds of a point, but he still said it anyways. "Well your... your a sandbag!" Okay so I wasn't always the most creative when it came to insults, but I was to irritated to think of calling him anything worse. That is if being called a sandbag is even bad...

"What! That doesn't even make sense." He replied hotly.

"Of course it does! It makes just as much sense as you calling Shikamaru a dirtbag and a sleezebag!" _Way to lose your cool Ino_. I thought to myself. But, he was my Best Friend so I would defend him until the very end of my existance: no matter how small the accusation or threat.

Before Kankuro could retort Temari cut in. "Excuse me?" She glared at her brother with the intent to kill.

"Uh, nothing." Kankuro responded while he shied away with his palms up in surrender.

Temari looked satisfied. "That's what I thought."

As I was laughing a sudden plea snapped me out of my revere and spurred me into action. Whoever it was sounded distressed and desperate. "Can anyone help me? Please!" The voice screamed out, rippling the air.

I sprinted past Gaara, who was already in pursuit of the frantic voice. The other three ninja fell into place behind us.

Not even a moment later I found myself standing in the middle of a dirt road staring at a figure of a boy. He was tan with a shock of dark hair and almond colored eyes. The boy didn't look to be in any sort of immediate danger.

Gaara stopped beside me assessing the kid from head to toe with a sharp and penetrating gaze. Coming to the same conclusion as I did he crossed his arms and stared at the boy with a slate-blank face devoid of any hint of emotion.

"Oh thanks. Finally someone came." The boy said in a voice that to me rang with horse sarcasm. My eyebrow twitched. "I need your help." He stated it almost as a demand rather than a request.

No longer able to keep my fearsome temper in check, I exploded. "With what!?"

Temari, Shikamaru and Kankuro caught up to me and the Kazekage. "Who's the squirt?" Kankuro questioned just before the boy broke into hysterics and threw himself down dramatically on his knees.

"You need to help me rescue my little sister, please!" He shuffled forward, stirring up dust and grabbed Temari's hands: eyes full of un-shed tears.

My jaw dropped as dramatically as the boy had. What happened to the little shit from a moment ago? I clasped my mouth and shot a look at Gaara: He simply watched the scene unfold with the same emotionless expression as before. Giving no indication outwardly if he was surprised and confused with the boy's behavior.

Temari smiled dawn at the emotional boy. "Of course we will help you find your little sister." I inwardly groaned. We were suppose to be on vacation, not taking un-paid for work. I mentally slapped myself. I was a kunoichi and that meant I had and honor and duty to uphold before my own pleasures. Even if relaxing in a hot natural bath was foremost on my mind. But, for some reason I could bring myself to feel ashamed. How odd.

The kid jumped up and wrapped his arms tightly around Temari's waist. "Thank you so much! I'm Yagumi, by the way."

Temari smiled back at the boy. I couldn't even wrap my mind around the kindness she was bestowing on the boy. It was simply not her... maybe when Shikamaru was around she softened up.

She began a fluid set of introductions. "I'm Temari, these are my two brothers Kankuro and Gaara." She motioned to her brothers as she spoke each name. "This is my boyfriend Shikamaru.." Was it just me or did Yagumi's face darken t the mention of boyfriend? "... and that is his teammate Ino." I gave the kid a lame wave and a sweet smile.

Yagumi looked at me and turned up his noes. "She's rude."

My smile turned to poison. Bitter sweet poison. I couldn't believe that he just said that. To think that I found someone that I hate more than: I'm Fucking Better Than You Ice Block Hyuga Neji.

Kankuro burst out into loud uncontrolled laughter and Shikamaru looked amused.

I snapped for the second time in a 5 minute time span. "I'm rude? You were nothing but rude when we came to see if you were dying, since you were screaming like a banshee you little brat!"

"Are you sure that I'm the banshee? Oh and I'm not little I'm 15." He countered smoothly.

My face was the very picture of fury. I'll teach that brat a lesson. I moved my arms to start making hand signs. Maybe If I made him make an ass out of himself he would learn to respect me and shut the fuck up.

Just as I was about to cast my justsu my body froze. Damn Shikamaru always interfering with everything. Temari's voice reprimanded me harshly. "Leave him alone Ino. We need to help him find his sister."

Inwardly I grumbled and when Shikamaru released his technique I merely glared at the troublesome boy.

Temari turned sweetly to Yagumi. "So can you tell us who took your sister?"

He nodded and began to recount his tale. " Me and Kyoto were just walking along the road to get to our Grandmother's home when these four men rushed us. They looked like bandit's and before I could stop them they took Kyoto and ran. Who knows what will happen to Kyoto if we don't hurry."

"Which way did the bandits go?" Temari prompted him.

Before Yagumi could give the direction I intervened with my own question."How did you escape this encounter unscathed?" Temari shot me a glare that read:leave him alone. But I had a valid point. Shikamaru nodded to himself and Gaara's eyes narrowed further.

"I didn't." The boy piped up defensively. "One of the men hit me really hard on the head and knocked me out."

I smirked. "Oh, really? Would you mind if I took a moment of time to check your head injury? I'm a medic."

The boy's brows shot up under his hair and crashed back down. "Yes, I would mind." He snapped. "I don't want you messing up my brain or something."

I glared at Yagumi. "I'm one of the best medics there is in the Land of Fire."

"and I don't care."He retorted.

"Ino, leave him be. He's probably not use to ninja considering that he's a civilian." Temari cut in with a tone of finality.

In the background I could hear Shikamaru sigh. "This is such a drag."

"So, which way did the bandits go kiddo?" Kankuro asked, setting his hand atop Yagumi's head and ruffling his hair.

The boy slapped Kankuro's hand away. "I'm not a kid and it's that way." We followed the trail of his finger to the North. Right up the road.

Something told me not to trust the kid, but if I voiced my opinion Temari would be more than happy to send me flying. So I said nothing and walked up the road with the group. Although I did keep tabs on him: watching and analyzing his every move. I felt as if something vital was missing.

Yagumi behaved as if he was attached to Temari at the hip. He would shower her in compliments and hold her hand. I would have found it amusing If I din't hate the brat's guts. Even Shikamaru had an annoyed expression on his face. In fact he looked almost mad. It was astonishing what jealousy could accomplish.

Kankuro walked up beside me and slung his arm around my shoulders casually. "Looks like the little man has found his first crush. Funny that it's my manly sister with a sex-kitten like you around."

I pushed his arm off of me. "I'm not a sex-kitten."

"Yet." He smirked, which earned him an elbow to the ribs.

Shikamaru grumbled. "Temari's not manly."

"Yeah, but she goes for younger guys."

Yagumi perked up at Kankuro's words and seemed to almost redouble his efforts for her attention. Temari simply punched Kankuro and told him to mind his own business. Skikamaru took Temari's hand and they walked away from Kankuro.

Yagumi glared at Shikamaru as we walked and suddenly spoke up. "We're going to slow. We will never save Kyoto like this!"

"You're the one leading _us_ remember." Shikamaru grumbled.

"Well come on then!" The boy snapped, breaking into a dead sprint.

We followed Yagumi as he veered off the road and into the forest. How foolish of us to let a mere civilian boy lead us. He had us racing recklessly through the forest as if the flames of hell were nipping at our heels. The trees were beginning to obscure the sunlight when it hit me.

I knew precisely what was missing and in all of our frivolity it had slipped by unnoticed, and I a Yamanaka had overlooked a very simple fact.

Guilt and Panic.

None of these were present in Yagumi's demeanor, as they should.

He was the grand master and we were leashed fools being lead to our demise.

"Wait!" I commanded as I came crashing to a stop.

Yagumi and the other's halted. "What is it?" Shikamaru asked.

I raised my head high and looked at Yagumi with vehemence. "We can't trust him."

Temari snapped her gaze to me with an expression that told me that she believed I had lost my mind. "What do you mean we can't tr-"

I had no need to answer Temari's incomplete question as bandits poured out of the foliage. All round us they fell with soft thuds in a rugged circle. A quick head count gave me a grand total of thirty-nine men. Each man wore a grin of malice and was armed to the teeth in sharp metal.

Yagumi backed away from us into the circle of bandits with a traitors smile and a wicked gleam in his eyes. He spoke in a tone unlike the one he had used in our company as he played us for fools. His voice, dripping cynically wavered through the air building up a tremulous aura. "We can do this the nice way or the hard way. It's your choice."

Kankuro didn't seem phased in the slightest by Yagumi's abrupt change in persona. "What the hell do ya want kid? We haven't got all day."

Yagumi narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to imprison you and sell you to various Futle Lords for power. Execpt for you my dear." He said stoking Temari's cheek. "I'm going to keep you as my pet." Temari's face thundered and at that moment I felt slightly bad for her, even thought it was her fault we were in this mess.

"Keep your hands off of her." Shikamaru growled.

Kankuro laughed as if an amusing joke had been shared. "Oh, good luck with that. Tell me how it goes." He nonchalantly walked in the direction we had come from. Before he could leave the ring of men: a few bandits moved to block his exit, holding weapons.

_ Ninja_ weapons.

So they were rouge-nin.

Kankuro's eyes narrowed and his face straightened out into seriousness. He took the Crow off of his back and set his puppet on the ground with a loud thud. "Looks like I'm done playing."

Yagumi's voice rose gleefully. "Oh, but the games have just begun!" As he spoke his irises shifted from almond to iridescent yellow while his hands began to morph into a different shape.

Now all of the brats bravado made sense. He too was a ninja.

Yagumi held up one of his hands up in front of his face. "Marvel at my power." The skin had hardened and blackened. What were once fingers were now five hulking claws, gleaming like the weapons of a hunter. On his face resided a maniacal grin.

I watched him with interest as the transformation stopped just after the boy's wrists. Not much of a power if it was so limited. "Games are for toddlers."

Yagumi's face contorted into fury before me, just as I knew it would. I had noticed early on that he was sensitive about his age and a prod in the right place would throw his concentration. He was easy to anger and that was a weakness I knew well.

Shinobi were not suppose to show emotion: it was a weakness. In fact it was the number one rule. However I had only met a few ninja actually capable of putting emotion aside so well and carry out their duty as if nothing effected them on any sort of level. Gaara being at the top of that list and Neji following sometime after. But I on the other hand was prone to anger. It was impossible for me to block out the emotion so eventually I learned how to warp the emotion to satisfy my own needs and turn it into power: rather than a weakness.

"I'll kill you!" Yagumi roared as he charged toward me. In defence I jumped back and threw a few kuni knives at him. To my astonishment he deflected the blows by batting the weapons aside with his clawed hand and I heard the unmistakable sound of metal-on-metal.

Smirking I grabbed my chakra blades: this was going to take a lot more man power than just small hand thrown weapons. Close-range fighting wasn't my forte, however I did have skill with these blades and I was agile. But most off all I had received my training from a man who was almost a god.

Rogues fighting Heroes: how enchanting.

All around us violence erupted into a utopia of sound. A symphony of sublime quality was created as the battle took place. Screams of anguish and pleas of mercy penetrated the air in haunting lyrics as the Kazekage crushed his victims within tombs of blood-slick sand. The Crow's percussion clacked in divine mockery as the Puppeteer drove potent poison through his opponents. Howls and whistles played through the ears of many as a fierce torrent sliced apart the dim forest at the practiced flick of the wrist from the Wind-mistress. The sound of the darkness shifting and reforming created a base for the upcoming crescendo as the Shadow-master paralyzed his enemies and the chimes were formed by the sound of metal crashing, clanging and clinking against metal.

I swung my right chakra blade at Yagumi's neck in a powerful arc. I was going to kill the little bastard for disrespecting me and my company. He met my blade half way with one of his clawed hands. Metal ran against metal. Sparks showered down upon us as we fought, landing on our skin like fallen stars. Yagumi winced in slight pain, I however was use to the fiery sensation.

I moved to strike again to which he parried. His eyes ever looked on my twin blades. He was good, but I was better. "Afraid to get hurt?" I lashed out the words as one with my blades. Yagumi had not made one offensive move since the fight had begun.

He glared at me. Wrong move.

As I lunged forward with the grace of a predator: he reacted with only enough time to glance the blow in another direction. My left chakra blade sliced clean trough the flesh in his bicep. He wailed in rage as I pulled my weapon from his slick flesh, blood drizzled down his arm.

His cry went on deaf ears and surprisingly enough he had regained his composure rather quickly. Maybe he wasn't as pathetic as I initially thought.

We clashed again and again as sparks lit up the dim forest like fireflies. "Afraid to die?" I sneered, driving one of my blades in a direct line for his heart. Yagumi brought up his palm just in time to counter my fatal attack. He lashed out with his spare hand and I smoothly flipped backwards out of reach.

"Your mind is weak... I could crush it right now." I stated, staring evenly at the crazed boy.

"Shut up! Your lying! You can't touch my mind. No one can. It's impossible." Yagumi yelled as he lunged forward. During his momentary objection; I had noticed that his left palm was cracked where my chakra blade had struck.

So his claws were not so impenetrable.

I increased my chakra density level in my right blade and rammed it forward towards Yagumi. My the tip of my blade slammed into the crack; splintering his hand into pieces.

Yagumi screamed in pure agony as he clutched his wrist. All that remained was a jagged, curved thumb claw. He wrenched his unsightly gaze at me with murderous intent, teeth gnashing in pain.

I brushed his mind with my own. "Can you feel that?"

"NO! You can't do that!" He thundered, swinging his right arm at my face with astounding velocity. I deflected his blow and opened a link to his mind.

_ Oh, but I can._

Yagumi clutched at his head. "Stop it! Stop playing games with me!" He looked absolutely savage at this stage in the fight.

_ I thought you liked games?_

"SHUT UP!" Yagumi bellowed.

_ I haven't said anything._

I gave Yagumi a coy smile and powered up my twin blades.

_ Time to die._

Yagumi came at me with a torrent of blows. One might even believe that he had been possessed at that very moment. For his attacks were no longer weak but, staggering... and to be accomplished with only one hand. I needed to end this before things got out of hand. I was no longer on the offensive, but the defensive. His mind was full of incoherent thoughts. Mostly blind rage and images of mutilation.

_Why do you still fight when I can end you right here? Without ever touching you._

"Because I'm not going to die alone." Yagumi snarled as he rushed forward to meet my blades. My weapons slipped right through his body, impaling him under the ribs as his claws sunk into my shoulders, curling into my flesh and spilling blood. There was only so much time before they reached my heart. I refrained from panicking. I had to keep calm.

_This is the end._

This time however the thoughts were not my own. Yagumi had figured out that the mind link worked both ways.

My eyes glanced up to him as blood flowed from his lips in a twisted smile. I smiled in return allowing a slip of blood to spill over my lip.

_ For you._

I had limited time so I quickly brought my hands together and made the proper hand signs. _Mind-Destruction Jutsu_.

The link was severed, forever.

Yagumi froze completely, his eyes widening in his last seconds of stability as my last thought resonated through his conscience.

The symphony arose to it's crescendo as Yagumi began to shriek and thrash about, falling to the ground and writhing in his own personal torment as his mind collapsed on itself.

The song came to a close leaving Yagumi to scream his very own lament before death. I simply applied chakra to the gaping, bloody holes in my shoulder, watching his body contort. My blades lay gleaming with sour blood beneath broken leaves.

My comrades approached the tormented boy with weary expressions. Blood began to pour from Yagumi's ears, noes, mouth and eyes as his body shuttered violently. His screams quieted to gargles and his pupils were no longer visible under a deep coat of red. There was one last jagged intake of breath and then finally silence.

Kankuro and Temari looked from the corpse to me and back again with expressions mixed in awe and horror. Shikamaru however had retrieved my blades from the torn grass and asked in a soft voice. "Are these?"

I nodded mutely. Sensei...

A Yamanaka is not to be trifled with: especially the pride of her clan. After Sasuke had abandoned; I had woken up to reality with a harsh slap to the face. I stopped wasting my time thinking about boys and committed myself to training. One day I (just like my father) would have to perfect every clan jutsu known to my clan. I needed to be capable enough to protect those that I hold dear to my heart and my village. Most importantly however I needed to keep Asuma's wish and to do so I needed to be strong.

**Meh that was really dark at the end. Next chapter willl be much lighter. **

**I'm sorry that there was no Neji in this chapter. I like to write on a more realistic level, so him popping up on this adventure when he had set the departure time would be a joke.**

**So here is a quick sneak peek on the next chapter:**

My face flushed crimson as I felt the article of clothing slip away from my body, leaving me almost bare to the eyes before me. I quickly brought my arms to my chest, shamefully turning away from the wide, innocent eyes across from me.

How could such an embarrassing thing happen?

**Sincerely, Elefria. :)**

**Thank you Readers and Reviewers!**


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